Flying toys are and long have been favorites of children. The excitement of launching an object and watching it fly through the air continues to capture the imagination of youngsters. Being able to control and direct the flight of objects further adds to the amusement and attraction of these toys.
Ballistic type toy projectiles, such as darts, arrows, missiles and the like are common. A drawback of these toys is the inherent parabolic flight path, which limits both the distance of flight and accuracy. Toy projectiles that generate lift during flight overcome these limitations and have the ability to provide substantially level flight trajectory. U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/092,564, filed Jun. 5, 1998 and entitled "Ring Airfoil Launcher," the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference, describes a lift generating ring airfoil toy and a variety of launchers. The advantage of the ring airfoil is its ability to generate lift during flight offering the potential for substantially level flight over increased distances. Furthermore, the launchers disclosed therein are arranged to impart spin on the ring airfoil as it is launched. The spinning action enhances lift generation and gyro-stabilizes the ring airfoil on its flight path. As is appreciated, the ring airfoils and launchers disclosed in application Ser. No. 09/092,564 yield both increased flight distance and accuracy to target.
To reduce the likelihood of damage or injury upon impact of a ring airfoil with an object or person, application Ser. No. 09/092,564 teaches forming the ring airfoils from a thermoplastic elastomer with a hardness not exceeding 80 measured on the Shore A scale. The material must be rigid enough to permit the launcher to transfer launching energy to the ring airfoil, yet soft enough that the kinetic energy density for a given launch velocity, i.e., the kinetic energy of the ring airfoil at launch, is within industry guidelines. Kinetic energy density in a sense is a measure of energy per unit area upon impact. Softer materials expand upon impact increasing the surface area thereby reducing the energy per unit area and hence the kinetic energy density for a given amount of kinetic energy. Therefore, softer materials may be launched with higher velocity, i.e., more kinetic energy. Meanwhile, harder materials expand less upon impact and therefore have a higher kinetic energy density for a given amount of kinetic energy. Thus, ring airfoils made from harder materials must be launched with lower velocity, i.e., lower kinetic energy.
A soft material, however, may become deformed as energy is transferred from the launcher to the ring airfoil during launch. This deformation hinders the energy transfer. Furthermore, some deformation may remain during flight reducing the aerodynamic and gyro-stabilzing properties of the ring shape. These factors ultimately limit the amount of energy that may be effectively transferred from the ring launcher to the ring airfoil. The net result is shorter, less accurate flights. Forming the ring airfoil from harder materials, however, requires reducing the launch velocity, which again results in shorter flights. Also, molding the ring airfoil as a single piece typically limits the ring airfoil to a single color.
To achieve the desired flight characteristics, a ring airfoil launcher is designed to impart both rotational and translational launching energy to the ring airfoil. This creates a complex launching action requiring a complex launching mechanism. The launching mechanisms described in the application Ser. No. 09/092,564 are very effective for providing the required launching action. However, these mechanisms are limited to single launches and then require reloading.